Many times, not everyone smiles when they see an Oakland County Sheriff’s deputy approaching their home.

But for the residents of Orion Lakes, when a troop of deputies visited their neighborhood on Aug. 6 there was nothing but smiles.

Deputies, command officers and OSCO staff visited Orion Lakes for National Night Out, a national community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships.

Lt. Dan Toth, commander of the OCSO Orion Twp. Substation, and his deputies participated in National Night Out, spending time with families, enjoying a meal together and playing games with the kids. There were raffle drawings for fun prizes, and kids got to see the Orion Twp. K-9 service dog and his handler and the deputies’ motorcycles.

“Many times the police are summoned to emotionally charged and challenging situations in order to keep the peace. These types of events purely show that the deputies live, work and are parents and your neighbors with the same common humility we call community. We loved it and it was good for the soul,” Toth said.

National Night Out, which began in August of 1984, is held annually on the first Tuesday in August, with the goal of enhancing the relationship between neighbors and law enforcement while bringing back a true sense of community and promoting neighborhood camaraderie.

“Our goal with participating in National Night Out was to build neighborhood camaraderie and to make our neighborhood a safer, more caring places to live,” said Tiffany Pfaffenberger, Property Manager at Orion Lakes. “Everyone had an amazing time, and I was extremely impressed by the involvement and engagement of the officers with the residents, particularly the children.”

For more on National Night Out, visit https://natw.org. – By Jim Newell